Traditional Chinese painting is the art
of painting on a piece of Xuan paper or silk with a Chinese brush that was
soaked with black ink or colored pigments. It is regarded as one of the "three quintessence
of Chinese culture", the other two being Traditional Chinese Medicine and Beijing
Opera.
By subject, traditional Chinese painting can be classified into three types:
- figure painting
- landscape painting
- flowers-birds painting
Figure painting came into maturity as early as the Warring States Period (475 -
221) and reached its peak during Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). Famous figure painting
artists include Gu Kaizhi and Wu Daozi.
Landscape painting, as the name indicates, delineates the outside scenery. It first
appeared in Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC) and became an independent genre during
Sui (581 - 618) and Tang Dynasties. By the time of Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), it
had reached a very high level. Representative artists of landscape painting include
Li Sixun, Fan Kuan and Tang Yin.
Flowers-birds painting concentrates on the drawing of flowers, birds, animal, fishes,
and insects, etc. in their natural state. Found in Northern and Southern dynasties
(420 - 589) and became a nature art during Song Dynasty. Celebrated artists include
Zhu Da, who was excellent in execution of flowers and birds, Zheng Xie, who was
good at bamboo, and Qi Baishi, who was excellent in fish and shrimp.
By styles of brushwork, traditional Chinese painting can be categorized into:
- gongbi - realistic painting characterized by fine brushwork and closeer attention
to details.
- xieyi - freehand brushwork aimed at catching the spirit of the object and
expressing the author's impression or mood.
Unlike Western sketches which focus on truthful regeneration of subject, traditional
Chinese painting pays more attention to verve and artistic conception. canonizing
the idea that painting should contain more meaning than what it depicts. For instance,
when Xu Beihong began to draw horses, he would already have shape feature in his
mind, and then draw a painting of horses that were more beautiful and alive than
the real life in the simple brushwork. To take "xieyi" painter Qi Baishi
as another example, in one of his paintings there were two roosters scrabbling for
an earthworm. However, he named the painting "Say Hello Afterwards", meaning
that although the bubs were not so sensitive that both of them scrabble for the
same food, they would have deep friendly feelings and say "Hello" to each other
afterwards. The whole personification of little rooster reflected Qi's comprehension
of the whole life. In general, the style of traditional Chinese paintings is gradiose,
containing reggedness as well as detail and magnificence. in addition, its contents
are rich with colorful forms.
In a finished works of traditional Chinese painting, inscriptions, poems, and stamps
often come side by side. Therefore, traditional Chinese painting is an art form
combining poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal carving. Its artistic achievement
and national feature have won recognition of the people all over the world. Thus,
traditional Chinese painting brings decorous sentiment and artistic enjoyment for
people.
Reference data
- Gu Kaizhi (c. 345 - 409) was a famous painter of Eastern Jin Dynasty.
- Wu Daozi (c. early 8th century) was a famous painter of Tang Dynasty. The belts
of the clothes feel like waving by his painting.
- Li Sixun (651 - 716) was a famous painter of Tang Dynasty.
- Fan Kuan (? - ?) was a famous painter of Song Dynasty.
- Tang Yin or Tang Bohu (1470 - 1523) was a famous painter of Ming Dynasty.
- Zhu Da, or Bada Shanren (1626 - 1705) was a famous painter of early Qing Dynasty.
- Zheng xie or Zheng Banqiao (1693 - 1765) was a famous painter of Qing Dynasty.
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